North Carolina’s rich history includes some of the greatest players in the history of college basketball: All-Americans, players of the year, NCAA champions. To have one’s jersey retired at UNC, it’s necessary to be national player of the year. To have a jersey honored, it’s necessary to be MVP of a national champion, or an All-American, or ACC player of the year, or an NCAA Most Outstanding Player, or an Olympic gold medal winner.

You ever see how many numbers are hanging from the rafters at the Dean Dome?

10Sean May

Center

2002-05

NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player, 2005

May showed during his last NCAA Tournament that he ought to have delivered a first-team All-America performance during the regular season, because he was clearly one of the best players in a middling year. But May always left observers wanting more, until he gave them everything they could want over six games of the NCAAs. He scored 26 points and missed one shot in the championship game win over Illinois. It’s easily forgotten how much May meant to UNC basketball; his presence was essential to the Heels elevating from the 8-20 disaster of the 2002 season to a national title just three years later.

9Sam Perkins

Center

1980-84

Consensus All-American: 1983, 1984

It was Perkins’ good fortune and misfortune to always have at least one teammate who was better than him. This was good because it allowed him to play in two Final Fours and contribute to the 1982 NCAA championship. It was not quite as good because Perkins never got the chance to dominate like he might have. He certainly was not unappreciated. Perkins put his absurdly long arms to good use, grabbing 1,167 career rebounds to establish a career record that wasn’t broken for 25 years. And he was highly regarded and twice an All-American, chosen as one of the 50 greatest ACC players and also selected to the 1984 U.S. Olympic team.

8Billy Cunningham

Forward

1962-65

USBWA All-American, 1964

The player called “The Kangaroo Kid” remains North Carolina’s per-game rebounding leader, with an average of 15.4 – though he stood only 6-7 and weighed 210 pounds. Cunningham also is second in scoring average behind Lennie Rosenbluth; Billy C averaged 24.8 points for his three seasons. He was ACC Player of the Year as a senior and first-team All-America as a junior. Unfortunately, Cunningham’s teams were but the foundation upon which Dean Smith built his program; the Heels finished third in the ACC his sophomore year and second when he was a senior, but they never won more than 15 games with Cunningham in the lineup.

7Charlie Scott

Guard

1967-70

USBWA All-American: 1969, 1970

Let’s be honest here: When I wrote my book on the top 100 college players of all time, I included North Carolina’s Billy Cunningham at No. 99. But if that spot were going to a Tar Heel, it probably should have been Scott. They were both tremendous, and Cunningham had better individual stats, but Scott had to deal with breaking the color barrier in UNC athletics and also delivered the program to greater heights. Scott played for consecutive Final Four teams, averaging 17.6 points and 6.0 rebounds as a sophomore, then 22.3 points and 7.1 rebounds as a junior. In his senior season, Scott averaged 27.1 points and 8.6 rebounds.

6Antawn Jamison

Forward

1995-98

Oscar Robertson Trophy, 1998

He wasn’t the nation’s most celebrated prospect in the recruiting class of 1995. He wasn’t even Carolina’s biggest recruit; that was Vince Carter. But Jamison made an immediate impact with his athleticism and precise finishing. He averaged 15.1 points and 9.7 rebounds as a freshman, then helped carry the Heels to consecutive Final Four appearances as a sophomore and junior. In 1997-98, Jamison produced one of the greatest Carolina seasons, with averages of 22.2 points, 10.5 rebounds and 57.9 percent shooting. Never a great jumpshooter, he thrived on his ability to jump high, jump quickly and turn those occasions into baskets.

5Lennie Rosenbluth

Forward

1954-57

Consensus All-American, 1957

Rosenbluth was the undisputed star of what has to be considered the greatest North Carolina team. The 1956-57 Tar Heels compiled a 32-0 season and defeated Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain in a triple-overtime title game. Rosenbluth led four UNC double-figure scorers in that game with 20 points – on a night when 54 points was the winning total. He ranks fourth in career points at North Carolina, but his career scoring average of 26.9 is easily No. 1, and he also was fourth in rebounding average at 10.4.

4James Worthy

Forward

1979-1982

NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player, 1982

If you need a statistic that allows you to understand the breadth of Worthy’s Carolina greatness, how about this: He attempted 27 shots in the 1982 Final Four, and he made 20 of them. That’s 74 percent shooting against Patrick Ewing and Georgetown and Hakeem Olajuwon and Houston. Worthy’s highest scoring average in a season was 15.6 points, but he shot 54 percent for his career, averaged 7.4 rebounds and helped the Tar Heels to reach two NCAA championship games. Although Michael Jordan made the shot that won the ’82 title, it was Worthy who dominated the game with his 13-of-17 shooting and 28 points.

3Tyler Hansbrough

Center

2005-2009

Oscar Robertson Trophy, 2008

When Hansbrough was a freshman, Sporting News judged his performance to be superior to that of Duke senior Shelden Williams. We were the only ones who saw it that way, and we were right. Recognizing Hansbrough’s excellence and impact at that stage meant he would become college basketball’s first-ever four-time first-team All-American. He never was a graceful player. As much as any great collegian, he willed himself to success. His individual success peaked in 2008, when he averaged a double-double and was named national player of the year. His greatest team success came a year later, when Hansbrough and his teammates stormed to the 2009 NCAA championship with a series of blowout victories.

2Phil Ford

Guard

1974-78

Oscar Robertson Trophy, 1978

Ford’s dominance was largely a you-had-to-be-there thing to truly understand. The basketball belonged to him when he played for the Heels. He was in complete command. But if you need a stat or fact that explains how truly great Ford was, how about this: As a four-year starter who attempted at least 370 shots in each of four seasons, he never shot below 51.6 percent. That’s a 6-2 guard, not a 7-2 center. He averaged 18.6 points and 6.1 assists for his career. Ford was a two-time consensus first-team All-American and played on teams that reached the Elite Eight and championship game of the NCAA Tournament. The only thing his career lacked was a victory in that 1977 title game against Marquette.

1Michael Jordan

1981-84

Guard

Naismith Award, 1984

The old joke that only Dean Smith could hold Michael Jordan under 20 points was not entirely true. As a sophomore, MJ’s scoring average was precisely 20 for the season, and he came close in averaging 19.6 as a junior. Maybe the better point is that he was so great that even Smith — with his occasional reliance on ball-control/delay tactics and preference for egalitarian offense – couldn’t keep Jordan down. Jordan arrived in college basketball in an era when freshmen rarely were given great responsibility, even if their talent warranted. But even in “paying his dues” Jordan took more than 10 shots a game as a freshman. And the other old story, that it made sense to draft Sam Bowie ahead of him because “no one really knew” how great Jordan was? Please. People were astonished when Indiana held him to 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Dan Dakich scored four points in that game and still became a household name for his role in that defense.